LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN DIVING BIRDS. 15 



them, or at a greater distance the pure white under parts and white 

 wing patches show up in marked contrast to the black upper parts ; 

 young birds in the autunm can be recognized by their size, shape, 

 and white wing patches, as the horned grebes are much smaller and 

 the loons have no white in the wings. Its general appearance is de- 

 cidedly loonlike, with its long neck stretched out in front and its 

 large feet held together straight out behind to serve as a rudder for 

 a tailless bird. It can not rise off the ground or ice at all and is 

 frequently caught in consequence. It can rise readily from the water, 

 like a duck, but not without considerable pattering along the sur- 

 face, beating it with wings and feet. When well under way its 

 flight is swift, strong, direct, and well sustained. When migrating 

 along the Atlantic coast I have always seen it flying singly and not 

 more than a few feet above the water. 



It is a strong and rapid swimmer and like aU of its tribe a splen- 

 did diver. It usually prefers to escape by swimming rapidly away 

 if the enemy is not too near, but, in the latter case, it dives like a 

 flash, so quickly that it is useless to try to shoot one if it is watching. 

 When undisturbed and not hurried it makes a graceful curving 

 plunge, leaving the water entirely and going straight down with its 

 wings closed; probably it can dive to a greater depth in this way 

 than in any other. It can also sink gradually downward until only 

 its head is above water or go swimming off among the reeds with 

 only its bill and eyes showing. When really alarmed it goes under 

 water with astonishing rapidity, so quickly that we can not see how 

 it is done, but it is probably accomplished by a sudden kick and 

 forward dive. / 



Mr. Aretas A. Saunders writes me that he watched a pair of these 

 birds — 



diving and evidently feeding under water. I timed them to see how long they 

 stayed under, and, after several observations of both birds, found the time 

 to be almost uniformly 55 seconds in every case. The time was so exact that 

 I could tell when a bird dove just when to expect it to reappear. 



Mr. Sim (1904), in describing the habits of his captive bird, says: 



In ordinary swimming the feet struck out alternately. The tarsi extended 

 downward and outward. In diving the bird was not observed to spring for- 

 ward in the common grebe manner, but rather let himself down very quickly 

 as though drawing his head back through a hole. When it was below the 

 surface I could scarcely realize that the creature before me was a bird, so 

 slender was he and so swiftly did he dart about and shoot through the tangle 

 of aquatic vegetation. It was amazing. The wings were entirely covered by 

 the feathers and the feet struck out simultaneously at the sides, far astern. 

 Their movements could scarcely be followed. 



